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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29914038">Sanctuary</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluebell08/pseuds/bluebell08'>bluebell08</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Kakashi Comforts You, Self-Indulgent</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 20:13:49</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,017</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29914038</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluebell08/pseuds/bluebell08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Your friend, anxiety, pays you another visit. But Kakashi makes sure you don't need to go through it again alone.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hatake Kakashi/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sanctuary</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I know it’s a busy time for me, but suddenly I had a late-night encounter with my friend, anxiety, again. So I had to do a quick writing session before going to sleep and made a hurt/comfort fic for myself. But this is written in a 2nd POV, and I made sure there were no specific descriptions of the reader included so you can do self-insert. I hope this fic will make you feel better, and know that you are not alone.</p><p>Where is a real-life Kakashi when you need one? :((</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was starting again.</p><p>That old familiar feeling started to fill inside you again. Its venom pounding in your veins; its gas clouding your thoughts. It gently yet repetitively prodded your peace, undisturbed a minute ago and now under threat. Slowly, the vines crept under your skin, growing and slithering inside you as they filled and enveloped your space. You remained still, ignoring the nagging thoughts. You had experienced these on many occasions before, and learning from your encounters, you knew that ignoring it was the best way to deal with it. Distractions were the most effective – all you had to do was count to ten while you think of something else. You had gone through this before, and you could go through this again. It was a reality you had accepted, and you just went on with your life, learning to deal with it as you trudged on.</p><p>However, it seemed like this was one of those days when you couldn’t. Or at least, you struggled harder. Suddenly, the vines made their way around your heart, and the beating started to accelerate. Your breathing became rapid and shallow; your head felt heavier than ever. You were slowly being pulled into that familiar bottomless pit, drowning and falling down to the depths of the sea, moving farther and farther away from the surface. The light from the surface faded little by little; the world around you became darker and darker. In a matter of time, you knew the tingling in your fingertips would soon occur.</p><p>“Y/N?”</p><p>You thought you heard a voice call out to you coming from beyond the surface. It was deep and masculine, and yet soothing and familiar. You continued to fall deeper into the depths of the sea, but then the voice called out to you once again.</p><p>“Y/N? Are you okay?” In your present world as you lay on the bed, you felt fingers lightly touch your skin, and they brought with them warmth, however faint you felt it. Your mind continued to race, your breathing becoming even more shallow and broken. You closed your eyes, hoping to wake up in a different world, and you took deep breaths, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly. </p><p>The voice seemed to wait, and after a few more breaths, you felt the fingers leave your shoulder and gently touch your back. The strokes the hand made were soothing, calming… and slowly, you felt the vines ease their grip on your heart. You moved a bit and looked from behind you. A pair of onyx and red eyes met yours, and they regarded your face with deep concern.</p><p>“Hey.” His eyes then crinkled into the shape of crescent moons, and he smiled at you softly. He continued to stroke your back in a gentle and calculated motion, and you felt yourself melt away in his touch. This time, you turned to your other side to completely face him. Your hand fell on his arm, your grip firm and pleading. Immediately, he understood, and gingerly he lay on the bed beside you, enveloping you in a warm embrace.</p><p>“I-I’m having another episode,” you choked against his chest, pulling him closer to you as much as possible.</p><p>“I know,” he whispered into your hair while his hand gently stroked your head. After a while, you slightly pulled away from his embrace, peeking from your lashes that were now brimming with tears. He looked at you with such tender affection.</p><p>“Why didn’t you tell me?” he whispered, and his lips still held that tender smile.</p><p>“I didn’t want to bother you,” you answered him, looking away. “I’ll be fine. It’ll go away like it always does.” You had always been the type to keep things to yourself. You didn’t like placing a burden on people. But you weren’t like this before; in fact, you were quite vocal about your troubles. However, experience taught you that people grow tired, and unfortunately, usually they were the people whom you were very close to.</p><p>And so you closed yourself off. You persisted alone in your struggles, battling them on your own. And you were fine with it, thinking that it is an inevitable part of your life. A reality that you had to face, a cycle that you had to go through . And you had been through it a lot of times, and you emerged from them victoriously, becoming more resilient than the last. But it didn’t leave you unscathed. It was tiring, and sometimes you wished for something or someone to ease your burdens, however hesitant or afraid you were of them growing tired of you. And for so long you longed for someone to stay by your side, to fight your battles with you no matter the situation. To encourage you when you falter as you soldier on. For someone to choose to accept you as you are, and to not grow tired of you as you fall countless of times.</p><p>Your thoughts were broken off as you felt his fingers touch your chin, tilting your head up so you could look at him. “You are never a bother to me.” His fingers then brushed against your skin, wiping away the trails of tears staining your face.</p><p>Tears continuously made their way down to your cheeks, and you quietly cried as he brought his lips to your forehead and left them resting there. Always battling your own struggles alone, you forget the people who were willing to fight them with you. You pulled him closer, your fingers digging deeper into his skin. That person was already standing there before you, and you were blinded by your fears to even see it. He faintly hummed a familiar melody, stroking your head as he placed another sweet kiss on your skin.</p><p>You kept falling deeper towards the bottom of the sea. As you lifted your eyes in one last attempt, you saw a hand reach out for you from above. You took it, and slowly it pulled you up towards the surface and nearer to the light.</p><p>Everything would be alright.</p>
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